Mass loaded resonance of a single unit impact damper caused by impacts and the resulting kinetic energy influx

This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations of resonance vibrations of an impact damper other than at its original resonance frequency. In the numerical modelling of impacts, the principle of conservation of momentum is employed. An improved scheme is proposed for identifying the time of contact and calculation of the state variables after impact. This scheme avoids false detection of collisions and embodies collisions or contacts with infinitesimally small differences in velocities. Descriptions of the motion trajectories and how the relative phase of the impact contributes to the momentum transfer and degree of damping are presented. Numerical simulations are in good agreement with experimental results with respect to the general performance and the shift in resonance which occurs with large amplitude excitation. The novel feature of this paper is the modelling of the mass loading effect of impacts through the transfer of kinetic energy.